Anemone propagation

[HighDefAquaria]

Hello, I’m interested in beginning to propagate bubble-tip anemones and have a few questions. How do you maintain their bubble tips to prevent them from losing them, and what feeding, lighting, and water parameters are ideal? Additionally, what is an appropriate splitting rate that indicates they are healthy and growing? Would adding clownfish help stimulate their growth or overall health? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

For reference, my current tank parameters are as follows:
• High flow, with 375 PAR at the water surface
• Magnesium: 1400
• Calcium: 450
• Alkalinity: 8.5
• Temperature: 78°F
• pH: 8.2
• Nitrate: 3.4
• Phosphate: 0.01

 

[TX_REEF]

Hello. Here are my comments based on experience:

• How do you maintain their bubble tips to prevent them from losing them: I have yet to find a way to guarantee the tips are constantly "bubbly". It is important to realize that it is not permanent if they are not bubbly, and also not permanent if they are bubbly. My opinion based on experience is that when nems receive higher flow, they are more likely to NOT be bubbly, because the tentacles want to reach towards the light. But, that does not mean low flow will guarantee bubbly tentacles.
• what feeding, lighting, and water parameters are ideal? I feed mine 1-2x a week. to encourage splitting, you want to feed the largest chunks of raw, boneless seafood that the nem will accept without regurgitating it. If it's too big, the nem will "spit it out". I use raw, de-shelled shrimp soaked in Microvert. For lighting, as long as the BTA has 100+ PAR, it will generally be happy. Anything over 200 is unnecessary and potentially harmful in the sense that the nem will want to wander to find a spot with less intense lighting. For flow, you want gentle and chaotic - same as most corals. If the tentacles are being obviously blasted in one direction constantly, you probably need to tune down flow and increase the randomness. If the tentacles don't sway at all, you probably need to increase flow.
• what is an appropriate splitting rate that indicates they are healthy and growing? Healthy nems generally will not split often, instead preferring to grow larger. They are more likely to split when they are "shocked" in some way. similar to terrestrial plants, they want to reproduce when they feel that their life is being threatened in some way, to carry on their genetics. Some examples of shock can be large feedings or sudden water condition changes. My BTAs generally split 1-3 times per year.
• Would adding clownfish help stimulate their growth or overall health? Clownfish can be a good source of nitrate that the zooxanthellae within the flesh of the nem use (in addition to light and phosphate) to nourish the anemone. Clownfish may also "feed" the nem, which is cool to watch. My ocellaris do not do this, but my female maroon clown will grab large pieces of food and "spit" it into the nem. I do not think clownfish are necessary to anemone health, but the presence of fish of some sort in the system is beneficial for nutrient levels, and that being the case, why not enjoy the beauty of observing natural symbiosis.

 

[HighDefAquaria]

Hello. Here are my comments based on experience:

• How do you maintain their bubble tips to prevent them from losing them: I have yet to find a way to guarantee the tips are constantly "bubbly". It is important to realize that it is not permanent if they are not bubbly, and also not permanent if they are bubbly. My opinion based on experience is that when nems receive higher flow, they are more likely to NOT be bubbly, because the tentacles want to reach towards the light. But, that does not mean low flow will guarantee bubbly tentacles.
• what feeding, lighting, and water parameters are ideal? I feed mine 1-2x a week. to encourage splitting, you want to feed the largest chunks of raw, boneless seafood that the nem will accept without regurgitating it. If it's too big, the nem will "spit it out". I use raw, de-shelled shrimp soaked in Microvert.
• what is an appropriate splitting rate that indicates they are healthy and growing? Healthy nems generally will not split often, instead preferring to grow larger. They are more likely to split when they are "shocked" in some way. similar to terrestrial plants, they want to reproduce when they feel that their life is being threatened in some way, to carry on their genetics. Some examples of shock can be large feedings or sudden water condition changes. My BTAs generally split 1-3 times per year.
• Would adding clownfish help stimulate their growth or overall health? Clownfish can be a good source of nitrate that the zooxanthellae within the flesh of the nem use (in addition to light and phosphate) to nourish the anemone. Clownfish may also "feed" the nem, which is cool to watch. My ocellaris do not do this, but my female maroon clown will grab large pieces of food and "spit" it into the nem. I do not think clownfish are necessary to anemone health, but the presence of fish of some sort in the system is beneficial for nutrient levels, and that being the case, why not enjoy the beauty of observing natural symbiosis.

Thank you for the response. I’ve seen one sources that suggested clowns hosting nems promotes the tips to bubble but it was qualitative and not quantitative.

 

[TX_REEF]

Thank you for the response. I’ve seen one sources that suggested clowns hosting nems promotes the tips to bubble but it was qualitative and not quantitative.

that is not accurate in my experience. All 3 of my systems that have BTAs with clownfish go through periods of bubbly and elongated tentacles, most of the time more elongated than bubbly.